


I've Always Loved You

by chameleonwrites



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, I wrote this pre season 5, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Love Confessions, Past Violence, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-14
Updated: 2020-05-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24172147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chameleonwrites/pseuds/chameleonwrites
Summary: Adora knows things haven't quite been the same between her and Catra since the war. They've agreed to put their past behind them and said their apologies, but something isn't quite right.Adora's going to fix that.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 118





	I've Always Loved You

**Author's Note:**

> I'm begging that the release of s5 doesn't invalidate this, but here's something I impulse wrote because of a conversation I had with my sister about managing to avoid writing smut. You're welcome.

“Ha!” Catra grinned, “Got you.”

Adora smirked up at her friend from past the point of the staff aimed at her neck. She’d let her guard down, at last.

“Oh yeah?” Adora asked, shifting her body weight to her back so she could swing her legs around and take out Catra. With a yelp, the other girl fell forward, dropping her staff and landing above Adora on all fours.

The two burst into laughter until their eyes met. Catra was still straddling Adora. It felt familiar and yet totally strange at the same time. How had so much changed and yet stayed the same, simultaneously?

Catra broke eye contact and quickly scrambled off Adora, flopping down on the floor next to her. Adora hoped she couldn’t see how visibly her heart was beating out of her ribcage.

“You win,” Catra sighed, sounding slightly disgruntled.

“Sorry,” Adora mumbled, recalling a simulation a couple of years ago that had shown her a similar scene and revealed Catra’s insecurities to her. She didn’t want to make the same mistakes as before, leading her to the same road of losing Catra.

“Why are you apologising? The Adora I used to know would be gloating right now,” Catra pointed out, scrambling to her feet and offering a hand to Adora to help her up.

Adora shrugged. “I’ve changed,” was all she said, and it wasn’t incorrect, but saying it in front of Catra made her feel cruel for some reason.

Catra’s hand wavered as she looked down at Adora with an analytical gaze.

“Are you, um, are you still mad at me for everything? I understand if you, like, need space from me or something,” Catra asked and Adora gaped at her.

“No, of course not! I thought you knew I didn’t blame you for everything that happened. We both made bad decisions but we also both fell victim to circumstance. You’ve already apologised, remember? I trust you completely,” Adora insisted, pushing herself to her feet instead. 

“It’s just that things feel different between us,” Catra sighed, her head dropping as she rubbed her arm. Adora wasn’t used to seeing her so unsure and hesitant. She frowned and took a step closer, laying a hand on Catra’s shoulder.

“I know. I didn’t mean to make things different to they used to be- it’s just, I didn’t know if you needed space or if you were still mad at me for leaving,” Adora explained.

“I don’t need space from you. Ever. You’re still pretty much the only person I can stand around here, it just seems like I only ever see you for sparring practice or meetings,” Catra sighed, her heterochromatic eyes catching Adora’s, wide and vulnerable, “could we just hang out? Like old times, just the two of us?”

“Of course!” Adora jumped at the idea. She _had_ missed hanging out with Catra whilst the two were separated, and even now, Catra was right. Something was different between them, sort of like a tension hanging above them. It felt like they had a ticking clock over them and neither of them knew when it was going to run out of time.

“You can come to my room if you want. It’s so big and _weird_ but I kind of like it,” Catra offered. Adora giggled.

“All the rooms in the palace are a bit weird but I kind of like them, too,” she smiled before reaching down and grabbing Catra’s hand, “come on- show me the way.”

Catra’s smile turned into a sly grin.

“Only if you can keep up,” she smirked, and before Adora could register what was happening, Catra was sprinting out of the room, causing Adora to trip over her feet as she was pulled along.

“Catra,” Adora complained, finally getting her feet balanced and managing to run along.

Catra’s room wasn’t far from the training deck. The door slid open and the two girls stumbled inside, laughing heartily. Adora looked around the room. It wasn’t too different from her own, only all the cushions had been piled up in a corner as a make-shift bed. It was kind of cute.

“I, uh, don’t really have anywhere proper to sit but there’s my bed,” Catra pointed at the cushion pile. Adora snorted in laughter.

“It looks comfy. Let’s sit there,” she decided, squeezing Catra’s hand and pulling her over to the ‘bed’.

Adora let herself fall backwards into the mountain of pillows, dragging Catra down with her.

“You’re such a dork,” Catra laughed as she released Adora’s hand to push herself up. Adora laughed.

“Yeah, but it was fun,” she pointed out. Catra looked at her with a soft smile. Adora wished she could capture that expression on Catra’s face forever. It was carefree, relaxed, and an expression the other girl rarely wore these days, especially after everything the two had been through in recent years. 

“It’s been so long since we actually had fun. Remember when we used to sneak outside after curfew?” Catra asked, her eyes looking distant. Adora nodded her head.

“Shadow-weaver was not happy if she ever found out,” she reminded Catra.

“Shadow-weaver was _never_ happy,” Catra huffed and Adora nodded in agreement.

“I wish she hadn’t been so cruel to you. I was completely oblivious and didn’t realise how badly she’d treated you. Maybe if I’d noticed I could have-“ Adora started, her brows furrowing together as she wondered what she could have done to help when Catra interrupted her.

“Hey,” Catra interrupted, nudging Adora with her knee, “don’t you dare blame yourself for what that manipulative woman did. Yeah, it was hard but it probably wouldn’t have been as bad if I hadn’t talked back to her so much.”

Adora turned to her and found herself smiling softly. She really had missed Catra so much. Even when she was mad at the other girl, her feelings were still the same.

“You did have a tendency to be pretty sarcastic with her,” she remembered.

“What can I say,” Catra shrugged, closing her eyes and smirking, “I’m ridiculously stubborn.”

“Just one of the many reasons I love you,” Adora huffed out a laugh, swinging her legs before suddenly realising exactly what she’d said and freezing up.

“You what?” Catra gaped, stiffening next to Adora. Adora looked at her nervously. She didn’t want to pretend what she’d said was a mistake (even if she hadn’t quite been prepared for admitting it, yet), but she wasn’t sure how Catra would respond to her confession.

“I love you. Surely you knew that. No one else can ever rile me up quite as well as you,” Adora smiled, hoping that at least she could give the conversation a humorous spin if Catra’s response was negative.

“You’re kidding, right?” Catra questioned, her eyes blown wide in surprise, “you were always busy being the _best_. You were so perfect and beautiful and kind and _everyone_ loved you. I thought you just put up with me because I wasn’t so obvious about my adoration of you.”

Adora shook her head in disbelief. Catra hadn’t even realised that Adora _liked_ her, never mind love.

“Catra, I’d never spend every single day of my life with someone I ‘just put up with’. I’ve _always_ loved you. It just, well, it changed into a different kind of love when we got older. I actually thought you knew. Wasn’t that why you were so mad at me when I joined the rebellion?” Adora asked in confusion, not entirely sure what she was supposed to make of Catra’s response. 

“No!” Catra squeaked, her eyes glazing with tears, “I was mad at you because _I_ was in love with _you_ and I thought you were abandoning me. I wanted to capture you and bring you back so badly because I _missed_ you. And even after I realised you weren’t going to come back with me I was mad because I thought you never would love me back.”

“You… what?” Adora spluttered, mirroring Catra’s original response from earlier. It really was shocking to find out someone loved you. Specifically that _Catra_ loved her. And she’d never noticed. How stupid had she been? Of course Catra had been so angry when she left. Adora had only been so angry at her because she felt like Catra had wanted her gone.

“I’ve always loved _you,_ Adora, not the other way around,” Catra finally finished, staring down at her hands. Adora sat there for a couple of seconds. It was, admittedly, a _lot_ to take in. Catra loved her back. How on earth was she supposed to respond to that?

Slowly, she slid her hand over the top of Catra’s. The other girl looked up at her, her eyes watering with tears.

“I never realised how much me leaving meant to you. I really am so sorry. I should have told you what I was doing,” Adora began to explain when Catra interrupted her with a huff of a laugh.

“We’ve said enough apologies already. Besides, we both agree I have way more to apologise for,” she pointed out, and before Adora could ask what she was doing, Catra’s hand reached over to Adora’s back and she traced a finger down her spine. “Remember?”

Adora nodded her head, the trail of Catra’s finger leaving a tingling path on her back. She had missed Catra _so much_ and finally it felt like the awkward air between the two that had existed over the past few weeks was dissipating. They were back on the same page again.

“Does it still hurt?” Catra asked quietly, her hand splaying full across Adora’s back.

“No,” Adora said, honestly, “not to touch. Sometimes I think about it at night and it feels like it’s hurting, but it’s just the memory of the pain, not the actual skin hurting.”

“I’m so sorry that I hurt you. I was so angry and I just wanted you to feel the pain you’d caused me. It was wrong and spiteful of me,” Catra shook her head before letting it fall against Adora’s shoulder. Adora automatically wrapped her arms around Catra in comfort. It was only once she realised the two were curled up against each other that she really noticed how entwined their position was.

“I understand why you did it, don’t worry. We’re moving past this, remember,” Adora confirmed, “and I’m not going to leave you again.”

Catra pulled back and grabbed Adora’s shoulders.

“You promise?” she asked, and Adora had never seen the usually so stubborn and closed off girl look so frightened in her life. Frightened that Adora would leave her. Adora’s heart hurt to think that the thing Catra was most afraid of right now was the thought of her leaving.

“I wasn’t joking when I told you I loved you. I really do and I don’t plan on leaving you any time soon, or ever, for that matter,” Adora promised.

Catra opened her mouth as if to reply but her eyes trailed down to Adora’s lips before returning to her eyes. She closed her mouth again and licked her lips and Adora tried so hard but failed not to follow the action with her eyes.

“Adora, I-“ Catra started to say, slowly, but Adora was too distracted. Before Catra could finish her sentence, Adora had dived forward and connected their lips hastily, her hands flying into Catra’s hair.

Before she could panic and pull back to apologise, Adora felt a tail wrap around her waist as two hands slid around her neck, pulling her closer to Catra.

Catra moved her lips eagerly against Adora’s mouth and Adora practically sighed. With her hands tightly bunched in Catra’s thick hair, it wasn’t difficult for her to give it a tug, opening Catra’s mouth so she could deepen the kiss.

A hum arose from Catra’s mouth as Adora’s tongue slid against her own and the sound caused heat to pool low in Adora’s abdomen. She slid her hands down from Catra’s hair to her shoulders to push her back slightly and catch her breath.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Adora gasped, breathing heavily as she gazed up at Catra through lidded eyes.

“Please,” Catra whined, snaking herself onto Adora’s lap, practically making Adora’s head spin at the action, “I’ve definitely wanted to do this for longer.”

Adora’s gaze caught the expanse of bare skin on Catra’s neck and before she could register what she was doing, she’d connected her lips to it, trailing her mouth up until she reached her earlobe. Tentatively, Adora grazed her teeth on it, drawing a moan out of Catra’s mouth that had no right being as hot as it was.

“Bet you I’ve wanted you longer, actually,” she said lowly into Catra’s ear. Catra’s hips jerked forward at Adora’s words and her claws dug into Adora’s sides. Catra’s movements against her had sparked Adora’s own arousal, though, and she quickly found her hands on Catra’s hips, pushing the other girl onto the bed below her.

“Oh yeah?,” Catra growled as she latched her arms around Adora’s neck once she was on her back, “prove it.”

Adora grinned down at Catra, her eyes shamelessly raking over her body.

“Tell me to stop if you want to,” Adora managed to say, her lips drawing closer to Catra’s again, “but I will absolutely take you up on that offer.”

Catra was tugging her ponytail out and burying her hands in Adora’s hair to pull her down into another searing kiss before Adora had even finished speaking.

~~

Adora opened her eyes and blinked around the unfamiliar room, gaining her bearings. It was only when she felt a warmth breath against her neck that she realised her legs were entangled with someone else’s and there was a body pressed against hers.

Last night. Catra. Wow. Adora could hardly believe Catra had said all that to her. She’d been so convinced that the other girl had spent years hating her that it was weird to think that _all the time_ she’d actually been in love with her.

Adora smiled to herself and stared up at the ceiling for a bit. She didn’t really need to wake up today, luckily. A few more minutes with Catra wouldn’t hurt.

Slowly, so as to not disturb the sleeping form of her best friend (girlfriend? They hadn’t actually gotten around to discussing it last night thanks to, well, they’d been preoccupied), Adora rotated her body, so that Catra’s head was buried against Adora’s neck, just underneath her chin. 

She wrapped an arm around Catra’s small frame and pushed her other hand into Catra’s thick hair, pulling herself closer to the other girl. It was strange, lying so close to another person, but Catra’s body was warm and Adora would definitely be able to get used to it. The thought of getting to do this with Catra again already filling her with excitement.

“Adora?” a croaky, sleep-ridden voice came from beneath Adora’s head. Adora quickly untangled her hand and moved away slightly so she could see Catra’s face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she immediately apologised. Catra shrugged her shoulders and Adora felt the motion against her chest.

“’S fine,” Catra muttered, “don’t move, you’re really comfy.”

Adora chuckled, “I wasn’t planning on it,” she promised.

With a contented hum, Catra buried her head back into Adora’s neck, pressing her lips against Adora’s pulse point briefly before she tugged the taller back against her. Adora felt her stomach flip. It finally felt like she had her best friend back again, only, well, they were a lot closer- literally- and they’d both matured a lot over the past few years.

Adora kissed Catra’s forehead.

“I’m only giving you a few more minutes. Then we do have to get up or Glimmer will burst in here looking for you,” Adora sighed into Catra’s hair.

“Ugh, you’re the worst,” Catra complained, her voice vibrating against Adora’s throat.

“You love me, though,” Adora teased, realising just how strange it felt to say out loud.

Catra hummed.

“Yeah, I suppose I do,” she agreed before her breathing evened out and her eyes fluttered closed as she snuggled into Adora.

Everything had worked out, in the end. Adora could finally relax.


End file.
